"Ah, a snake, a snake..."
Ah-Can had just set up a few lines and caught a few common fish when he suddenly pointed at the sea in front of him in terror and screamed loudly.
Feng Ye shuddered in fright and cried out, "Where are the snakes?"
He was most afraid of snakes in his life, whether they were poisonous or not.
"It's hooked, right on the branch line ahead."
Ah-Can's face was deathly pale, his voice was filled with fear, and his legs were so weak that he almost dropped the main storyline and ran away.
It's obvious that he's also afraid of snakes.
Feng Ye was afraid of snakes and dared not go forward, but Feng Xuan dared. He took a step forward and snatched the main thread, carefully pulling it back.
A long, olive-colored creature covered in segments of black bands struggled violently on the fishing hook, its tail constantly curling and twisting.
This was clearly a blue-ringed sea serpent.
Sea snakes all belong to the Elapidae family, and you can tell they are venomous just by looking at their classification; their main toxins are neurotoxins.
Upon seeing the sea serpent's appearance, all three gasped in shock.
No one expected that there would be blue-ringed sea serpents in this sea area.
At the same time, everyone was relieved that no blue-ringed sea snakes were caught in the trawl net, otherwise it would have been a real problem.
Feng Xuan didn't rush to put the snake away, but said, "A-Ye, go find something to put this snake in."
"Brother, let's not keep this snake."
Looking at the blue-ringed sea snake, Feng Ye got goosebumps.
In my past life, I sometimes caught sea snakes, but back then they were already listed as protected animals. If I didn't want to go to jail for free, I had to release them unconditionally.
He even lost a lot of his catch trying to release sea snakes. The most outrageous time was when his trawl net caught several sea snakes. He didn't dare to pull them onto the boat, so he untied the net from the outside of the boat and lost the entire catch.
Sea snakes are not currently protected animals and can be bought and sold normally; many people buy them to make medicinal wine.
"What nonsense are you talking about? This sea snake is worth a lot of money."
Feng Xuan glared at him.
"Or you could cut off the snake's head, you know I'm terrified of snakes."
"A snake without a head is worthless; only a live sea snake is valuable."
"Okay, I'll go find it."
Feng Ye really didn't want the sea snake and would rather earn less money, but he couldn't go against his older brother's wishes.
I had only turned around and taken a few steps when I saw Ah Can come out carrying a snakeskin bag.
Ah-Can was even more afraid of snakes than Feng-Ye. He threw the snakeskin bag over from a distance and didn't dare to get close at all.
It's truly remarkable that he didn't run away immediately after discovering the sea serpent, but instead managed to hold onto the main storyline for a while.
Feng Ye grimaced as he picked up the snakeskin bag, steeled himself, and stepped forward to open it.
The blue-ringed sea snake writhed and struggled in the water, splashing up a lot of water.
Feng Xuan lifted it up with a delighted expression, seized the opportunity to grab the snake's head, and then stepped on the main rope to prevent it from being pulled back into the sea.
Only then did he carefully use his free hand to remove the hook from the blue-ringed sea serpent's mouth.
As he watched his older brother put the blue-ringed sea snake into the snakeskin bag, Feng Ye tensed up completely.
As soon as Feng Xuan let go, he quickly gathered the opening of the snakeskin bag together and tied a knot.
He was terrified that the sea snake might suddenly lunge and bite him.
He felt a little more at ease after throwing the snakeskin bag far away.
"You guys take the hooks from the back; I'm afraid I'll snag another sea snake," Ah-Can said, still shaken.
"Brother, you take care of it. I'm also worried there might be sea snakes."
Feng Ye shook his head like a rattle drum.
Blue-ringed sea snakes are gregarious, often moving in groups of thousands.
Once you've hooked one, you might hook a second, a third, or even more.
"I really don't understand you guys. What's so scary about sea snakes? As long as you're careful and don't get bitten, you'll be fine."
Feng Xuan found these two people really strange. Eels, moray eels, and sea snakes all look very similar, so why were they afraid of sea snakes?
"I don't know either. Whenever I see a snake, I feel a chill down my spine and goosebumps all over my body."
Feng Ye believes that this fear may be innate and cannot be changed by later life.
He's seen plenty of sea snakes, otherwise why would he be afraid of snakes?
Ah-chan chimed in, "Me too. I'm not afraid of anything except snakes."
Feng Xuan shook his head, no longer dwelling on it, bent down, grasped the main thread in his hand, and began to reel it in.
Several hooks went empty, but the bait on them was still intact, without a single bite mark.
It is estimated that the blue-ringed sea snake bit the hook relatively early, which frightened the fish so much that they dared not approach to take the bait.
The hook on the next branch line did catch a fish, a yellow fish, which at first glance looked like a large yellow croaker.
When they pulled it out of the water, everyone was greatly disappointed.
This is just a yellow croaker, which has many other names, and some people also call it Chunzi.
Feng Ye untied the fish and threw it into the live water tank.
Ah-chan then took a small fish that had been caught in the trawl net, hooked it on the fishing hook, and released it back into the sea.
Unexpectedly, the next hook gave Feng Ye and A Can another fright, as they pulled up another blue-ringed sea snake.
Without saying a word, Ah-Can ran a long distance in one stride.
Feng Ye, suppressing his fear, reluctantly took the snakeskin bag that already contained a sea snake.
"Ah Chan, is it that scary? Why did you run so far?"
Feng Xuan smiled as he untied the sea snake and tossed it into the snakeskin bag.
Feng Ye quickly tied the knot again, as if holding a hot potato, and threw it far away.
"Terrible, absolutely terrifying."
Ah-chan waved his hand, his face deathly pale.
During the subsequent reeling, Feng Xuan would occasionally pull up a blue-ringed sea snake, causing Feng Ye and A Can to tremble with fear.
...
After all the longline fishing was finished, they had caught nearly thirty blue-ringed sea snakes, which filled three snakeskin bags.
The other fish were also a good catch, but most of them were ordinary, with many being of low value.
There are quite a few empty hooks, especially on both sides of the hooks biting the blue-ringed sea snake, where there are almost always a few empty hooks.
After finishing their longline fishing, all three of them got up and stretched.
Ah-Can pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket—the same pack Feng Ye had thrown on the dashboard at noon—and gave one to each person.
Feng Ye took the cigarette, lit it, took a couple of puffs, put it in his mouth, and then squatted down on the deck to get back to work.
It's not time to rest yet; there's still a huge pile of cargo waiting to be sorted on the deck.
"You guys take your time dividing it, I'll go start the boat."
Feng Xuan gave a brief instruction, then, with a cigarette between his fingers and rubbing his lower back with the other, walked towards the driver's seat.
By this time, the sun was setting, and it was almost sunset; it was time to return home.
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